cadence comments about hallam

10 Sep 2010

It's not about the bike

Cycling is trendy. That may not seem remarkable to many people, but for some it is a bit of a shock. Are those who were into it before it became fashionable entitled to feel a bit annoyed? Cycling always tended to attract people who liked to go against the grain, how do they feel about Boris Johnson being on their side? What would the 1980s Conservatives and Margaret Thatcher thought about someone who cycled? She was not too impressed by people who caught the bus, even if her colleague Norman Tebbit thought people should get on a bike and look for work ... more

16 Jun 2008

Civil Service old fashioned ...

A former Entrepreneur of the Year winner has said, 'that significant parts of the civil service are broken' and that 'the machinery of government is not even in the 20th century, never mind the 21st century.' Some people might not understand why this is in newspaper ... more

21 Apr 2008

My Place - Government cash for places to go

My place will provide £190m of Government cash over the next three years with grants of between £1m and £5m. This follows the announcements made by Ed Balls over the last year and is a very welcome start. Cadence's work with Clubs for Young People on a Blueprint for structured community youth works in clubs will hopefully play an important part in ensuring such investment has a lasting benefit ... more

11 Apr 2008

Eco towns and transport

Whether the Government will come to regret the use of the term 'eco town' remains to be seen, but it is interesting to see that a wide range of groups have picked up on the potential for the transport element of the initiative to be problematic. The Local Goverment Association hit the nail on the head when Sir Simon Milton said 'It's no use building carbon neutral, environmentally-friendly houses if they are in the middle of nowhere with no facilities so that people have to drive miles to buy a loaf of bread or take their kids to school'... more

22 Mar 2008

Innovation Nation

The Government's new innovation paper has some interesting public service innovation elements. A new Whitehall Innovation Hub catches the eye in particular, as does the Audit Office plan to look at how risk is addressed in relation to innovation. Fans of Yes Minister will have a field day with such a paper (extending the 'power to innovate'!) and there is always the fear that when governments start writing strategy creativity and innovation are at great risk. A recent round table suggested that Grade 7 civil servants need targeting as it as that level that ideas stall, a course called Grade 007 - 'a license to innovate' would work? ... more